Lucy Sparrow (born 8 July 1986) is a contemporary artist originating from

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. She works at the intersection of contemporary art and craft setting the agenda for textiles within the urban art scene. She works mainly with

felt Felt is a textile material that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing fibers together. Felt can be made of natural fibers such as wool or animal fur, or from synthetic fibers such as petroleum-based acrylic or acrylonitrile or wood ...

and

wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. As ...

, creating life-sized replicas in addition to oversized soft versions of existing objects. Her work often features the SSRI prescription drug

Prozac Fluoxetine, sold under the brand names Prozac and Sarafem, among others, is an antidepressant of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) class. It is used for the treatment of major depressive disorder, obsessive–compulsive disorde ...

and often features Sparrows interpretations of the

retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and t ...

environment, the intricacies of product branding throughout the modern era and her full-sized representations of

supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earli ...

s. In the early stages of her career, Sparrow was involved in a number of notable group shows in the UK. She was a contributor to the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

2013 travelling street art collection alongside

Banksy Banksy is a pseudonymous England-based street artist, political activist and film director whose real name and identity remain unconfirmed and the subject of speculation. Active since the 1990s, his satirical street art and subversive epigrams ...

Blek le Rat Blek le Rat (; born Xavier Prou, 1952) is a French graffiti artist. He was one of the first graffiti artists in Paris, and has been described as the "Father of stencil graffiti". Early life Xavier Prou was born on 15 November 1951 in Boulogne- ...

Jamie Hewlett Jamie Christopher Hewlett (born 3 April 1968) is an English comic book creator, illustrator, music video director, and songwriter. He is the co-creator of the comic book ''Tank Girl'' with Alan Martin and co-creator of the virtual band Gorilla ...

, Pure Evil,

D*Face Dean Stockton, better known by his alias D*Face, is an English multimedia street artist who uses spray paint, stickers, posters, and stencils. D*Face grew up in London and had a childhood interest in graffiti in drawing. He credits this to Henry ...

and urban illustrator Oh Jiwon. Her first solo show at Hoxton Gallery was ''Imitation'', which recreated famous artworks out of

, including a shark in a tank by

Damien Hirst Damien Steven Hirst (; né Brennan; born 7 June 1965) is an English artist, entrepreneur, and art collector. He is one of the Young British Artists (YBAs) who dominated the art scene in the UK during the 1990s. He is reportedly the United Kingd ...

. Following from her participation in group shows, Sparrow launched her first UK solo show in 2014 before moving on to release her first international solo show, ''8 'till Late'' in 2017 in

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Since 2017, Sparrow has continued to exhibit globally across America and Asia in addition to the UK.

Solo Shows

The Cornershop

In 2014, Sparrow created a

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

campaign to fund her first major exhibition. ''The Cornershop'' was a soft sculpture recreation of a British newsagent's installed in a derelict cornershop in

East London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...

. According to news sources, it took Sparrow and her assistant seven months and 300 sq. metres of felt to create the 4,000 items on display.

The Warmongery

Following from ''The Cornershop'', Sparrow created ''The Warmongery'' show in

Boxpark Boxpark is a food and retail park made out of refitted shipping containers in Britain. It was founded by Roger Wade, who described it as the "world's first pop-up mall". The first Boxpark was launched in Shoreditch in 2011, another was buil ...

, located in Bethnall Green,

. Lucy stated that "The aim of Warmongery is to draw people’s attention to what drives a few individuals to stockpile weapons and to ask why people are growing up in a world where a tiny minority feel so stressed and frustrated that they want to kill people.". ''The Warmongery'' ran for 10 days in total.

Madame Roxy's Erotic Emporium

In 2015, Lucy Sparrow made an installation of a sex shop in London's

Soho Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develop ...

, saying that her inspiration for the work was her five years working as a stripper in a nightclub in London, and that she wished to make people question the increasing suppression of some sexual practices in British law such as use of sex toys and contraception, and the

gentrification Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and urban planning, planning. Gentrification ...

of Soho. The exhibition was called ''Madame Roxy's Erotic Emporium'' and included pornographic magazines, whips, toys and jars full of STIs.

8 'till Late

In June 2017, Sparrow installed a

replica of a bodega in

The Standard, High Line The Standard, High Line, formerly The Standard, is an 18-story luxury boutique hotel located at 848 Washington Street between West 13th and Little West 12th Streets in the Meatpacking District of Manhattan, New York City. It stands above stre ...

hotel in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. ''8 'till Late'' opened on June 5 and featured 9,000 items. The show was an instant success, requiring Sparrow to temporarily close the show after 7 days to restock. The show was intended to run for 4 weeks but was again forced to close 9 days early following a sell-out of all pieces.

Sparrow Mart

In August 2018, Sparrow released ''Sparrow Mart'', a life-sized replica of a supermarket. The supermarket represented Sparrows fifth major art installation and was built within The Standard, a hotel in Downtown LA. ''Sparrow Mart'' featured 31,000 felt grocery items and covered over 2,800 square feet of retail space.

Lucy Sparrow's Felt Art Imaginarium

In July 2019, Sparrow created ''Lucy Sparrow's Felt Art Imaginarium'' at M WOODS museum in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. This show featured 70 items remade from Sparrows chosen medium,

. The show opened on July 6, 2019, and remained open until October 7, 2019. Sparrow created full-size versions of masterpieces from

Michelangelo's David ''David'' is a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture, created in marble between 1501 and 1504 by the Italian artist Michelangelo. ''David'' is a marble statue of the Biblical figure David, a favoured subject in the art of Florence. ''David'' was ...

and da Vinci's Mona Lisa to Damien Hirst's shark in formaldehyde and Andy Warhol's

Campbell's soup cans ''Campbell's Soup Cans'' (sometimes referred to as ''32 Campbell's Soup Cans'') is a Visual arts, work of art produced between November 1961 and March or April 1962 by American artist Andy Warhol. It consists of thirty-two canvases, each mea ...

. Sparrow spent 9 months creating the show which spanned 14 rooms within the museum.

Sixth Avenue Delicatessen

in October 2019 Sparrow reprised her

run with the ''Sixth Avenue Delicatessen'' show, which ran from October 1 until October 20, 2019. The show was hosted at the

Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center is a large complex consisting of 19 commerce, commercial buildings covering between 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street and 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The 14 original Art Deco ...

Sixth Avenue Sixth Avenue – also known as Avenue of the Americas, although this name is seldom used by New Yorkers, p.24 – is a major thoroughfare in New York City's borough of Manhattan, on which traffic runs northbound, or "uptown". It is commercial ...

where she offered some thirty thousand felt replications of perishable food items for sale. ''Sixth Avenue Delicatessen'' featured a run of 30,000 felt items created by Sparrow. The show was organised by the

Art Production Fund Art Production Fund (APF) is a non-profit organization under section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. tax code that presents public art throughout the United States. It was founded in 2000 by Yvonne Force Villareal and Doreen Remen. it is directed by Casey ...

and ran for a total of 3 weeks.

The Bourdon Street Chemist

In December 2020 Sparrow announced her upcoming London show, ''The Bourdon Street Chemist''. The show is located within th
Lyndsey Ingram
gallery in

Mayfair Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world. ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and was originally scheduled to open in January 2021. However, the show was postponed due to restrictions imposed by the UK Government relating to the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

pandemic. The show has been rescheduled to April 2021.

External links

Official websites: * - Official Lucy Sparrow Webpage
Lucy Sparrow Instagram
– Official Lucy Sparrow Instagram page
Lucy Sparrow Facebook
– Official Lucy Sparrow Facebook page

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sparrow, Lucy Living people 1986 births English artists 20th-century English painters 21st-century English painters Artists from Bath, Somerset